Gareth Bale's last-minute heroics for Tottenham on Monday night will have left
north London rivals Arsenal feeling more than a little deflated ahead of
Sunday's derby, says midfielder Scott Parker.

Arsenal travel to White Hart Lane to face Spurs on Sunday with Arsène Wenger's side in desperate need of a victory to close the gap in the race for fourth-place. Andre Villas-Boas side are currently third on 51 points with Arsenal two places back with 47 points.

Parker believes that Bale's stunning last minute winner against West Ham at Upton Park would have left Arsenal's players dispirited, after Spurs managed to turn around a game they were losing and claim all three points.

“It’s deflating,” the Spurs midfielder told London's Evening Standard. “I’ve been in that position when you’re playing and you’re watching the scores come in and you hear there’s been a last-minute goal in a game that’s important for your side.

“You’re praying it’s gone the way you wanted it to and then you hear it’s a goal for the team you didn’t want to score. So it is deflating for a player watching, and I’m sure the Arsenal players are like that."

Bale's 30-yard strike – his second goal of the game – was his eighth goal in six games for his club and Parker accepts that the 23-year-old has made the difference in tight games in recent weeks.

“Gareth is a world-class player and at the moment he is scoring last-minute goals that are winning games for us. He was fantastic at West Ham and he’s stepped up again to get us the three points.”

Last season, Tottenham travelled to Arsenal at the end of February with a 10-point advantage over their rivals. They lost 5-2 and Arsenal subsequently overhauled Spurs to claim third-place in the Premier League. Tottenham finished fourth but missed out on a Champions League spot after Chelsea's lifted the trophy in Munich.

Parker is determined that there will be no repeat of last season's collapse his time around.

“What happened last year is a focus and something we’re aware of," he said. "We’ve worked really hard to get into this position and we can’t afford to fall off now.

“Arsenal will be thinking that if they can beat us the gap will be only one point, so it is going to be tight. The race for fourth place isn’t over."